Hey everyone, thanks for reading. I want to start my own build thread for my truck because I just got a full time job within my company so I'll have a bit extra money coming in to do the things I want. I've already started with window tint, coil spacers, and a tranny flush. Other than that all my upgrades I will be posting here, mostly for my own reference but for others seeking help, thanks!

This is about the time I bought the truck in September 2012 with 96,000 miles on it. I had recently totaled my first ranger, a 1996 that had 240,000 miles on it (I'll be sure to post more pics of it) which was 100% the other persons fault, so when the insurance company paid out, the money covered most of my new truck.

Yeah I bought the spacers and a spindle as a combo, but my plan is to do coils anyway. So the stock ones mean nothing to me. I've already noticed they've sagged an inch after re-torquing all the bolts.

So i figured i would start with what ive done so far and how much it has costed me. (even though i would mostly be talking to myself)
I spent $160 on window tint (70% shade sides and limo on back) thats the shades that are legal here in California but i still plan on doing limo on the sides-theyre just not dark enough to suit me.
i spent about $170 on the Bilstein 5100 series for the front, they have a bit extra travel so that i wont have to change them when i do a lift coil.
I also just recently did a Transmission flush at Firestone which was $165 (Love firestone and they take great care of me and my truck) which made it shift a bit better. i was having flares between shifts that were getting worse, so before i decided to drop the pan and change the filter or Valve Body gasket i figured i would do a needed flush.. youre supposed to go about 25,000 miles between tranny flushes and ive never done it, might as well. and it does shift significantly better than before.

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As of today my truck is at about 143,850 on my ODO. At 150,000 i plan on doing alot of extensive maintenance. which includes:
-Clean my MAF sensor
-New plugs and wires
-New fuel filter
-Clean out throttle body
-New hi-flow K&N Intake ($289)
As well as send in an oil sample to Blackstone Labs for a free test.

Alright so i made a Photobucket account and i did a few things over the weekend so i think i can get this thread up and going now. Unfortunately there was a technical difficulty with my job and i didnt get paid my full amount on my Paycheck on friday so i couldnt do much to the truck. That only means my next payday will have what i was missing. so hopefully i can get the Doestch spindles ive been wanting, and maybe a few explorer mods.
I decided to go ahead and clean my MAF sensor and replace my air filter with a K&N filter (not the whole intake) as well as clean out my throttle body. i was pretty certain that there was a good amount of mud in there from the last time i went wheeling and there was ALOT inside my intake.
Theres a good layer of dirt on the bottom, even some leaves.

Fliters side by side. you can see that the K&N is much less restricting that the cheap filters.

My butterfly valve had quite a bit of dirt on it, so hopefully the cleaner does its job.

And of course i had to add my K&N sticker to my collection.

The K&N comes with a million mile warranty and its washable, so i figured i would stick the warranty sticker in the most convenient spot.

Yeah the plugs and wires help a lot.
And yeah definitely tires. Once my cheap quality Primewell tires go bald then I'll most likely get Hankook Dynapro, or a set of BFG mud terrains that I found on Craigslist for $300.

Okay so I got me a mirror from another member on here. Instead of doing an Explorer OHC, I decided to get the rear view mirror with the temperature and compass. It's a ford part, so it lets me sleep at night. I don't feel like cutting my headliner with the OHC anyways. I got all the wires ran, but I had a little trouble. From what I saw on the "OHC- How to install" he tapped into the power and accessory from the radio. My wires are just long enough for that, but It doesn't work.

There are 5 wires:
I tapped the "constant hot 12v" from the mirror to the radio.
I did "12v accessory" from the mirror and tapped the radio.
Ground which I tapped into the radio as well.
And then two wires for the temp sensor outside the truck.

Except this blew my fuse for the radio. Anyone know where I can get my 12v constant and accessory by itself with a fuse? I'll start a thread with this too.